HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg announced that its Survivor Compensation Program enrollment period ended on Monday, May 13, 2019.
“The Survivor Compensation Program is a major component in our ongoing efforts to support survivors of clergy child sexual abuse,” said Bishop Ronald Gainer. “We have just completed an important phase of this Program. Our fund administrators, Commonwealth Mediation & Conciliation, Inc. (CMCI), have informed us that we have had many survivors apply to participate in the Program. Once the settlement period has concluded, the Diocese will release a final report on how many survivors we were able to support. Our Diocese will continue to offer counseling to survivors of clergy child sexual abuse, regardless of whether that survivors has received a settlement or is participating in the Survivor Compensation Program.
“The protection of our children is my top priority. In my name and on behalf of the Church, we extend our prayers, heartfelt sorrow and apologies to all survivors of clergy sexual abuse.”
The Survivors Compensation Program opened on February 12, 2019 and was open for 90 days. The Program is being administered independently by CMCI. Our mediators will now begin making settlement offers. CMCI is solely responsible for determining how much and to whom settlements will be offered. The Diocese of Harrisburg is not involved in the process of determining who is eligible for settlements and the amounts. Settlements will be offered on or before June 28, 2019.
Our Program will include settlements for abuse by Diocesan Priests, Deacons and Seminarians, as well as Priests of other dioceses and Religious Order Priests who had faculties in the Diocese of Harrisburg at the time of the abuse.
If you are a survivor and did not enroll to participate, we encourage you to await further announcements from the Diocese. In the meantime, the Diocese urges survivors of childhood sexual abuse to report to law enforcement and to the Diocese. The Diocese of Harrisburg offers counseling services to all survivors of childhood sexual abuse through its Victim Assistance Coordinator, Dr. Mark Totaro. He can be reached at 1-800-626-1608 or reportabuse@hbgdiocese.org. All claims of abuse reported to the Diocese of Harrisburg are reported to ChildLine and to the appropriate District Attorney.
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